Loud Noises
by Robin Gills
Summary: Fireworks can hurt. Slash, Angst. If you can't handle slash don't read.


Grumble whoever thought of 10-min challenges should be shot. Nothing is ever going to be 10-mins for me…

Title: Loud Noises

Author: Robin Gills

Pairing: Hawkeye/BJ friendship

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: These hot boys aren't mine, I'm not making any money off this.

Archive: Anywhere, just let me know.  
Feedback: Sure

Word Count: 1,404

Beta: Lisa (a great help, because I didn't know car seats were a very recent invention)

Summary: Fireworks can hurt.

They were all sitting and talking peacefully; three Hunnicutt's and one Hawkeye. They had laid out their beach blanket and angled it towards the Warf. Other families were scattered around the beach as well. Through the waning light of the sunset they could see the people packed onto the Warf. People were milling around on the beach trying to find place to sit.

Sparklers were everywhere. A few teenagers were lighting smoke bombs and small fireworks.

So far Hawkeye was doing okay. The fireworks that had gone off were small and at a distance, and the sparklers he could manage. There had been one large firecracker that had gone off down the beach and it had made his heart skip a beat, but he'd convinced himself it was out of surprise rather than fear.

After all, in Korea the bombs had landed all around us. They had been bigger, louder and some carried warnings by whistling through the air. Fireworks were similar Hawk realized and he could see them. Knew they were just packs of sulfur and powder. No one was going to get hurt, he wasn't going to have to save anybody, and none of the people next to him were in any danger of getting killed. Fireworks he could handle.

The sunset's colors finally faded and the night, stars, and the waves were the only things left.

Until the fireworks began.

They started unexpectedly, perfectly without warning. Just like Korea.

Suddenly, he felt the cold sweat. The adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He closed his eyes and covered his ears. But it didn't block the loud bursts of energy that could kill. He thought he could handle this, obviously not.

Hawkeye opened his eyes and looked for BJ. He was right next to him but it seemed like he was much farther away. Through his quickened breath, the sweat on his forehead and arms, and his heart beating in his throat, he could see BJ tense and jerk and then become still as a deer in the headlights.

Hawkeye's fight or flight instinct took over. He shut his eyes against another bang. He needed to get out and get out now. The panic was rising so quickly that he could barely breathe.

As if knowing BJ grabbed Hawkeye's thigh, clamping down and holding on for dear life; for Hawkeye's sanity and for his own.

---

Peg sat happily on the blanket next to her husband; her daughter in her lap playing with sparklers, husband and friend, sitting next to her. It was the best Fourth of July she'd had in recent years. Her husband was safe and at home. He was also much more himself now, with his best friend staying at their house for a few weeks.

They had been talking and laughing before the fireworks. They were telling Hawk how much fun surfing was and giving him tips for the next day. But the atmosphere changed dramatically as the first firework lit the sky with an awesome bang.

But both men had frozen when it exploded above them.

Erin screeched and covered her ears. Peg brought her hands to cover her small hands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw BJ jerk towards them reacting to his daughters' screech. She looked towards him and saw in the fading light of the firework, the fear in his eyes and etched in the lines of his face.

She shouldn't have been surprised and really she'd been somewhat prepared for some kind of incident. Family members had been brought to the base prior to the soldiers' return and had been told: "Loud noises may startle them and some can bring back memories." She had been wholly unprepared, however, for the blatant fear that was showing in her husbands' eyes.

Another firework exploded above them. BJ's face jerked back toward the sky and then to his friend, a mask of fear still covering his face. Peg peered around BJ to where Hawkeye was sitting. The man looked awful. He had his eyes squeezed tight together, hands clamped over his ears. Peg could see even in the darkened night that he was extremely pale. His breathing was irregular and she could see sweat on his forehead. BJ was grasping at Hawkeye's leg in desperation.

She put Erin on her feet and stood quickly. Erin complained at the sudden movement but she was very concerned about the men next to her for her to notice. She saw both of them jerk again at the next firework, and Hawkeye opened his eyes, desperately searching for BJ.

Peg reached out and laid a hand on BJ shoulder. Her touch startled him, jolting back to look at her. Standing quickly, he moved faster than anyone she'd seen. BJ grabbed Hawkeye's hand and yanked him up onto his feet.

Peg snagged the blanket from underneath them and picked up Erin. The two men were already heading toward the parking lot quickly. BJ was practically carrying his friend. Peg and Erin followed at a slower pace.

When Peg came into view of the car she could see Hawkeye sitting in the back, car door open, facing out. His knees were drawn up, and he had his face in his hands, hiding it from view. As she walked up, Peg could tell that he was shaking.

BJ crouched in front of him, half resting on the open door and his other half on Hawkeye. BJ's forehead leaned on one of Hawkeye's knees, his arms on either side of Hawkeye's legs, disappearing into the car. Hawkeye dropped a hand down to BJ's hair, fisting into it. Making sure BJ was there.

As Peg drew closer she could hear sobs emitting from the trembling man. Closer still, and she could hear BJ's whispering to his friend. The two seemed to be unaware of the girls' presence as they stood on the opposite side of the car. Erin asked her why uncle was crying. What could she say?

"I guess uncle Hawkeye doesn't like fireworks very much."

Walking over to an empty parking spot across from their car, Peg set Erin down on her own two feet. They both sat on the curb while she talked with Erin to keep her busy all the while Peg kept an eye on the men behind her.

The noise from the fireworks lessened considerably as they had made their way toward parking lot. They had been late and had parked in another lot further down the beach. Peg didn't know how long they'd been sitting but Erin had fallen asleep against her leg.

The fireworks show ended with several fireworks going off at once. She couldn't really see Hawkeye behind the door but she could see BJ shifting. She picked Erin up carefully and walked back to the car.

When she approached the side of the car she could see the exhaustion on Hawkeye's face. She set Erin into the front passenger seat and walked around the door to BJ. She placed a hand on BJ's shoulder and was relieved when he didn't jump. He looked up and she saw that the fear had been replaced by sadness and tiredness. He nodded to her and she went around to the drivers' seat.

Her husband managed to turn his friend around to face the seat in front of him. He shut the door and got in on the other side. She looked in the rearview mirror. She felt her heart almost break at the pain the two men were going through. BJ put a hand around his friend as Hawkeye leaned into him, resting his head on BJ's shoulder. BJ kissed the black and silver hair tenderly and closed his eyes. She saw a few tears drop into the other man's hair.

Peg turned her eyes to the front and started the car. A few minutes after getting onto the highway, she looked back into the mirror. Both men had fallen asleep.

She decided she'd ask Hawkeye stay longer than he'd planned. Peg realized she'd probably counted her chickens before they'd hatched. Everyone was back in her life, but Korea had taken something from them that they wouldn't get back.

After another horrible reminder of the war that had stolen a part of their lives, Peg prayed that both men would be able to walk away from it.


End file.
